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Heading into the final month of the baseball season, interest has never been as strong. As current MLB commissioner Rob Manfred angsts over creating more interest by changing the strike zone, eliminating defensive shifts or limiting the number of relief pitchers appearing, former commissioner Bud Selig is at home in retirement grinning like a Cheshire Cat over the way his two-wild-card format has increased interest in the final month around both the American and National Leagues.

Oh by the way, Mr. Manfred? Speaking of offence, the month of August featured more than 1,000 home runs. More bombs, in fact, than any other calendar month in MLB history. The game will be okay, the athletes are back.

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As for Selig’s wild-card concept, it was once considered sacrilegious but is now being accepted by more and more purists, daily it seems. Heading into the Labour Day weekend, as of Saturday there were 10 American League and eight National League teams within four games of a playoff berth, thanks to the two wild-card concept.

The 10 contending AL teams, ranked by won-lost record, are the Rangers, Indians, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles, Tigers, Astros, Yankees, Mariners and Royals. The only five teams out of it are the Rays, White Sox, Twins, Angels and Athletics. September scrubs.

The following is an examination of the AL contenders, comparing strength of schedule, number of games against scrub teams, their remaining home games and what they have coming up in the final week of the season:

AL EAST

The Jays, Red Sox, Orioles and even the Yankees are jockeying for and in decent position for the division title plus the two wild-cards. But winning this tough division is the only way to really be sure of a post-season berth in what is easily the most difficult final four weeks of any division.

The four AL East contenders play 83 of 101 games against division opponents, ranging from the Jays with the fewest — 18 of their 25 — to the Red Sox and Yankees with the most at 23 each.

AL Central

The Indians have controlled this division most of the season, with a deep and talented rotation and a terrific manager in Terry Francona. But the Tigers have come on strong and the Royals are the defending World Series champs and have righted the ship.

When scoreboard-watching season opens Tuesday, the Royals will play 16 of their remaining 25 games against scrub teams, including five against the Twins. The Tigers will catch a break, playing 10 of their final 25 against the Twins and Braves, including a final weekend in Atlanta. These are the two worst teams in baseball.

AL West

The Rangers are easily in the driver’s seat when it comes to clinching the best record in the league and home field advantage through the World Series. They have a comfortable division lead, plus they still have 18 games against teams that should consider themselves spoilers, including the final 15 against the A’s (six), Angels (three) and then a final week of facing the Brewers and Rays at home.

By then, the Rangers will likely be setting up their playoff rotation.

The two other AL West contenders — the M’s and Astros — already should be focusing on a wild-card. Seattle has the easier schedule, with seven against the A’s and other series versus the Twins and Angels. The M’s and Astros play each other six times down the stretch and must be considered outsiders for a playoff berth.

Playoff Projection

Yes, we know games aren’t played on paper, but upon a deeper examination of the remaining schedule, here is a projected AL finish and the first-round matchups:

Our ALDS prediction has the No. 1 seed Rangers taking on the winner of the Royals-Red Sox wild card. The No. 2 seeded Indians will be hosting the No. 3 seed Blue Jays. (Oh and hey Toronto fans? Get ready to take your late afternoons off, with the American networks once again shafting the Jays on start times.)

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